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Kentucky And 4 Other SEC Teams in Preseason Top 25: What You Need To Know

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UK Athletics

The Wildcats being preseason ranked by the Associated Press isn’t something that is too unfamiliar to Cats fans, specifically this year being the #4 team in the country.

Yet, the SEC continues to improve and is as good as ever with 5 teams in the Top 25, tied for the most of any conference.

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With that said, let’s talk about Kentucky’s competition for the SEC and some players we need to know about each team.

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Arkansas Razorbacks

Eric Musselman has shown out with his impressive recruiting tactics in recent years, which has led him and the Razorbacks to two straight tournament appearances, including an Elite Eight last year. Yet, this year he is bringing in his best class.

According to 247 Sports, Arkansas’s incoming class is ranked 2nd overall, led by 6 incoming freshmen (three Top 25 commits) and 5 transfers. Nick Smith is the name to remember, a top 5 recruit anywhere you look, who will be paired with junior guard Davonte Davis, who averaged a little under 9 points a year ago.

Arkansas has as deep a team as anyone in the country and has the talent to be a national title threat.

Tennessee Volunteers

Right behind the Razorbacks, the Tennessee Volunteers are ranked No. 11 in the preseason AP poll. Unlike Arkansas, Tennessee will rely on its experience this year.

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Returnees Santiago Vescovi, Josiah-Jordan James, and Zakai Zeigler, were all three named on All-SEC teams, with Vescovi as one of the guard spots on the first team.

Rick Barnes will experience some offensive drop-off after losing Kennedy Chandler to the NBA Draft last year, but not as much as other teams in the SEC would hope. The Vols will pair their three preseason All-SEC shot creators with senior big men Uros Plasvic and Olivier Nkahhoua to put them in a spot to contend for a Final Four this season.

Auburn Tigers

The defending SEC regular season champs are ranked as the No. 15 team coming into this season, but lost star players Jabari Smith and Walker Kessler to the NBA Draft.

The Tigers don’t bring in a lot of freshman talent but do have five-star big, Yohan Traore, coming in. The bigger news for Auburn this basketball offseason was the commit by Morehead State Forward Johni Broome, who will be a double-double machine.

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Returnees K.D. Johnson and Wendell Green will most likely lead the front court, but what stood out the most in Bruce Pearls’ eyes during the Israel trip Auburn took this past summer is Allen Flanigan.

Pearl has Flanigan, who is coming off of an Achilles injury, in an escalated role this season. A Tiger team led by Broome and company should have Bruce Pearl ecstatic for the upcoming year.

Alabama Crimson Tide

Rounding out the Top 25, Alabama is placed as the No. 20 team this year. Nate Oats has brought success to the basketball program in his tenure in Tuscaloosa and doesn’t plan on stopping.

Jahvon Quinerly, who is entering his fourth year of college ball, is the perfect floor general to lead what is the third-best recruiting class coming into this year according to 247 Sports.

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The name leading that recruiting class is Brandon Miller, a top-ten recruit. The 6-foot-8 forward is as versatile and efficient on offense as any player in the league. The Crimson Tide are also bringing in former Kentucky target, Jaden Bradley.

Nate Oats and his team have the talent and may have one of the highest ceilings in the conference if everything falls correctly. If so, the Crimson tide could cause some damage in the SEC.


The SEC is as competitive as ever. Even outside the five teams ranked in the Top 25, the SEC has teams like Texas A&M, Florida, and Missouri that could make a push for an NCAA Tournament appearance

In addition to a difficult non-conference schedule, the league as a whole will give the Cats nothing but good experiences and tough matchups that will prepare them enough in order to succeed in March.

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Men's Basketball

CBS Sports: Kentucky Has “ended pursuits” in Transfer Portal Following Aberdeen Commitment

In the wake of yet another addition to Kentucky’s incoming roster, CBS Sports reports that Coach Pope and staff may have closed the portal.

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Mark Pope and staff may have everything they need from the transfer portal.
Chet White | UK Athletics

Following another flurry of transfer portal additions in his second year at the helm, it appears that Mark Pope and staff are satisfied with their sophomore haul. The portal in Lexington may be officially closed for the 2025-26′ season.

Right after Kentucky received the surprising commitment of Denzel Aberdeen, Matt Norlander, an analyst for CBS Sports, posted the following on X (Twitter):

“Barring any portal defections, Kentucky has ended its pursuits of all other portal targets, sources told CBS Sports. Getting Aberdeen today [April 21] meant they’ve moved off Andrej Stojakovic, Rylan Griffen, etc. Otega Oweh going through pre-draft process-but I expect him back in Lex”.

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With the addition of Aberdeen, the Wildcats’ roster ballooned to near-max capacity for next season. Seeing two of the team’s walk-on players, Grant Darbyshire and Walker Horn, enter the transfer portal seemed to all but confirm this suspicion, too.

Losing One of Our Own

That is, until last night. With less than two hours remaining for players to do so, Travis Perry shocked much of the Big Blue Nation by throwing his name into the hat. This came just weeks after a string of comments from the Kentucky-native point guard seemed to confirm his return for a sophomore season.

Though all the same, given Kentucky’s bulk of back-court additions this offseason, his departure makes sense for the sake of playing time alone. The Lyon King will be sorely missed.

So while the Kentucky staff may still be very much content with their current roster, with hundreds of players remaining in the portal and an unexpected spot on the roster coming open, another grab is far from out of the question.

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Who Coach Pope and company would go after is entirely unclear, as that potential player would likely have to accept a minimized role off the bench for a stretch of his time in Lexington. If anything, the logical replacement would be a direct fill-in at the PG2/PG3 spot in Perry’s absence.

Either way, the ‘Cats are set to come into next season as one of the most exciting teams in college basketball with a ceiling far out of view. Mark Pope continues to prove his prowess in the transfer market, too, easing the worries of Wildcats fans and closing the door on many supposed “insiders” who’ve spent the last month suggesting otherwise.

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Men's Basketball

REPORT: Travis Perry Enters Transfer Portal

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Kentucky basketball Travis Perry talks about growing more comfortable on the court.
Jordan Prather | IMAGN

The transfer portal has been kind to Kentucky in the Mark Pope era. Last season, the staff was able to build a Sweet Sixteen roster almost exclusively from the portal, and this offseason have put together a top-five portal class.

While the portal giveth, it also taketh. Just hours before the deadline to enter, Kentucky native and fan favorite Travis Perry has entered the transfer portal, per multiple reports.

Coming to Kentucky as the state’s all-time high-school scoring record holder, fans were excited to see how his career would unfold in Lexington.

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Not expecting to play much freshman, he was called upon due to injuries and played some key minutes for the Wildcats into the postseason. He averaged 2.7 PPG and .6 APG on 32% shooting from three.

Looking at the depth chart, it was difficult to see where Perry would get much playing time next season, leading to his decision to enter the portal.

Perry has yet to release an official statement, but all the best to him in his future.

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Men's Basketball

Top Transfer Guard Denzel Aberdeen Commits to Kentucky

Former Florida guard Denzel Aberdeen commits to Kentucky, likely closing the transfer portal for next year’s roster.

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Denzel Aberdeen commits to Kentucky.
UF Athletics

Another day, another “boom.” Denzel Aberdeen has officially committed to Kentucky for the 2025-26’ season.

A soon-to-be senior guard fresh off his championship win with Florida, Aberdeen spent his first three years of eligibility in Gainesville. Now, following an apparent conflict in the Gators’ rotation, he’s swapped teams in the southeast.

At 6 ‘5”, 190, Aberdeen spent much of this past season beating defenders off the dribble and making them pay at the rim. His speed and size made him a nightmare off the bench for opposing teams, and for the short stretch of play that he started during the year, Florida didn’t miss a beat. 

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In 19 minutes, Aberdeen averaged 8 points, two rebounds and one assist per game. His consistent contribution to the Gators’ title run made him one of the most coveted transfers in the cycle this season, and given his big blue commitment just days after entering the portal, Mark Pope clearly wasted no time in Kentucky’s pursuit.

Aberdeen slots in as yet another addition to what was already one of the strongest portal classes going into next season. His SEC experience and combo-guard intangibles make Aberdeen one of the most exciting portal players to come through Lexington in a long while, reinforcing Kentucky’s back court to what may be the final degree.

Whether or not Mark Pope is officially done for next season, nobody is sure, but this commitment only further cements the fact that he knows exactly what he’s doing. Just like the  fanbase behind him, Coach Pope seems to never sleep.

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